Dental pliers.



E. H. ANGLE.

DENTAL PUERS. APPLICATION FILED we. 31. 1915.

Patented June 20, 1916.

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DENTAL PLIERSc Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed August 31, 1915. Serial No. 48,152.

To all whom it may concern:

Be 1t known that I, EDWARD H. ANGLE, a

citizen of the United States, and a resident of New London, in the county of New London, State of Connecticut, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Dental Pliers, of which the following is a specification, reference being had to the accompanying drawings.

My invention relates particularly to that class of dental pliers which are designed for use in connection with the art of orthodontia, and is directed especially to means for applying a tooth-band to a tooth to which it may be subsequently attached, for the pur pose of regulating or correcting the dental arch.

In the art of orthodontia, it is highly essential that the tooth-band shall be drawn extremely taut around the tooth to which it is to be adapted, and to be caused to accurately conform thereto, and as the metal of which tooth-bands are composed is rare and consequently expensive, it is desirable that the strips forming the bands may be as short as possible to avoid waste.

The principal object of'my invention is, to provide pliers which are arranged to hold a closed looped strip forming the toot iband while being applied to a tooth, and to so adapt it to the tooth as to cause it to accurately conform to the circumferential surface thereof to form a snug-fitting collar.

Specifically stated, my invention comprehends a pair of pliers having one beak provided with means for forming a slip-noose around a tooth, and the other beak provided with means arranged to be extended through the closed tooth-band for exerting such tensional strain on the strip forming the noose as to cause it to conform to the tooth to which it is applied.

My invention also includes all of the various novel features of construction and arrangement hereinafter more definitely specified.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a plan view of a pair of pliers conveniently embodying my invention; Fig. 2 is a side elevational view of the pliers shown in Fig. 1, as viewed from the lower side of said figure; Fig. 3 is an end elevational view as viewed from the forward end at the left of Fig. 1; Fig. 4: is a transverse sectional view, taken through the end of the forward end of the beaks of the pliers on the line H in Fig. 1, and showing in section a tooth-band held thereby; and Fig. 5 is a fragmentary perspective view of the forward ends of said beaks, showing the hand held thereby in position to be adapted to a tooth.

In said figures, the relatively movable body members 1 and 2, forming the pliers, are pivoted at 3 and respectively have the rearwardly extending handles 5 and 6 and the forwardly extending opposed beaks 7' and 8, the beak 7 being provided with a slit 9 extending transversely in longitudinal re? lation to said beak, and the beak 8 being provided with a band-engaging member 10 having an overhanging hook-like projection 11, to prevent the band from slipping oil? the epd Shereof and acidentally sliding from the sit As best shown in Figs. 1 and 5 of the drawings, the outer wall 12 of the beak 7 adjacent to its free end is convexly curved, extending slightly beyond the slit 9 and arranged to bear against the bight 13 of the tooth-band 14:, which embraces the tooth 15, shown in dot and dash lines in Fig. 5, and which has the ends 16 and 17 of the strip forming the band engaged, preferably by solder, so that said strip thus closed may be hooked over the member 10 on the beak 8 and passed through the slit 9 in the beak 7, so that when the handles 5 and 6 are pressed together, the beaks 7 and 8 will tend to sepa- Patented June so, rain.

rate and draw the strip forming the toothband through the slit 9 to tighten the slipnoose 19 embracing the tooth 15, as best shown in Fig. 5.

It will be readily seen that the curved wall 12 will be especially advantageous in forming the tooth-band into the bite of the tooth, so that the collar thus formed may accurately conform to the tooth, and when thus adapted the tooth-band may be removed from the tooth and that portion forming the collar clipped from the portion of the strip forming the band which extends through the slit 9 and around the member 10, and the ends formed by such separation joined by any suitable means to form the closed collar or band.

The pliers constructed in accordance with my invention are advantageous, in that they not only hold the tooth-band in position to be adapted to the teeth of the dental arch, but comprise means w ich cause the said tooth-band t0 conform to the shape of the tooth to which said band is to be applied,

and therefore eliminates the necessity of the use by the operator of separate tools, one for holding the band and the'other for forming it around the tooth.

I do not desire to limit my invention to the precise details of construction and arrangement herein set forth, as it is obvious that various modifications may be made therein Without departing from the essen tial features offmy invention as defined by the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention, I claim: I A 1. A pair of pliers having relatively movable beaks, one being provided with. a slit extending transversely thereof, and the other having a member arranged tojbe extended through a closed tooth-band to draw it through said slit.

2. A pair of pliers having relatively movable beaks, one having a slit extending trans versely through the end thereof, and the other having a hooked member for engagement of a closed tooth-band, and by Which (Sophia! this, patent may be obtained for said tooth-band may be drawn through said s it.

3. A pair of pliers having relatively movable beaks, one having a slit through which a closed tooth-band may be drawn, and the other having a member with a rounded side arranged to extend through said tooth-band and to engage it by said: rounded" side to draw it through said slit.

V 4. V A pair of pliers having relatively move able beaks, one having a slit and a curved wall through which a closed tooth-band may be drawn, and the other having a hooked member comprising anoverhanging projection arranged to extend through said toothband and arranged to draw it through said slit, the overhanging projection preventing the accidental displacement of said toothband from said pliers.

In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this 25th day of August, A. D., 1915. V

y EDWARD H. ANGLE.

Witnesses 7 ELLSWORTH ROWLAND,

WILLIAM BELcHER.

five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. G. 

